Average Joe, winner of the 2016 Channel 9 Audience Award as voted on 9Now. Image: Rory O’Keeffe as Joe.

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WA Screen Academy

The WA Screen Academy, located on the ECU Mount Lawley campus, wasestablished in 2005, and since then has cemented its reputation as one ofAustralia’s most innovative and outstanding advanced-level training programs inscreen production.

In 2016, the Screen Academy was accepted as a member of CILECT,the International Association of Film and Television Schools; one of only fivemember schools in Australia. Thismembership is an acknowledgment of the high quality of teaching and learning atthe Academy, and enables international collaboration in both production andresearch.

The Screen Academy offers a production focused trainingexperience designed to prepare students for the realities and challenges ofworking in the professional industry. The intensive, one-year or 18-monthcourse develops students’ practical skills and creative vision across a diverserange of screen productions, includingshort dramas, documentaries, client-based workand web-series.

Students accumulate significant screen credits working onhigh-quality productions using state-of-the-art facilities and equipment. Theyare taught and mentored by leading professionals and leave with industry-levelskills, a show reel of production work and a strong analytical and theoreticalfoundation relating to film, television and associated new media applications.

The WA Screen Academy accepts a select number of students in thefollowing areas of specialisation: Producing, Directing, Screenwriting,Cinematography, Sound and Editing

A unique feature of the program is the WA Screen Academy’s relationshipwith the Western AustralianAcademy of Performing Arts (WAAPA). WAAPA is aworld-renowned training course for arts performers and technicians and WAScreen Academy films have helped in building successful careers for manywell-known actors.

On completion of the course, graduates will have an impressive personalportfolio comprising short films, documentaries, client-based productions andweb-series drama. They will also have valuable broadcast credits, as a programof students’ work is broadcast on the Nine Network.

The WA Screen Academy has partnerships with world-class motionpicture camera company ARRI Australia and motion picture production technicalcompany Panther GmbH. Together they enable the Academy to provide industrystandard craft skills to its students. To find out more, visit the WA ScreenAcademy facilities web page.

The Academy films and documentaries are showcased annually at agala screening with additional promotion and exposure at local andinternational festivals, free-to-air broadcasts and web-based platforms. Thehigh level of industry engagement together with quality student productionsensures the WA Screen Academy continues to attract major sponsorship partnersincluding Nine Network Australia, The Myer Foundation and the Constable CareFoundation.